“Charcoal Dusk”, original black and white charcoal on toned paper, art size 7.75″ x 5.25″, framed size 10.5″ x 8.25″, a walk on the trail in winter dusk.

About “Charcoal Dusk”

From my Christmas Day walk in 2013, sketched en plein air, the trail with a dusting of snow but mostly light from the moon behind the heavy overcast sky in contrast with the dense charcoal of the trees along side and on a hill beyond. This was the first time I’d used toned paper while sketching, but I found it’s ideal for these winter types of sketches to start with a mid-tone, and only minimal drawing materials.

The day began with a sunny morning but was so murky dark by the time I was ready to go in the early afternoon I held off until later hoping it would pass as it often does near sunset. We did see some sun here and there, but I decided a late afternoon or even dusk visit would be good.

And it was. It meant color was pretty much out of the question, not because there wasn’t any but because an overcast sky like that can really change the way my pastels look in the box and on paper. I did start one on a prepared masonite panel, easier to hold and paint with pastels because of its rigidity, but decided to bring it home to finish, and will do others from photos. The clouds broke briefly just before sunset with lots of wispy color in the sky, awakening the cool blues and purples in the landscape, but the light changed so fast it was impossible to catch (I just found that beginning of a sketch yesterday! and I still have the others I’d started at home, unfinished).

So I pulled out the pads of toned paper and chose the gray over the tan, a couple of different density black charcoal pencils and a white charcoal pencil, and got started, working as fast as I could. The simplified composition with only two colors made that happen, the black lined off and filled with solid or sketched lines and some finger blending, and how to capture that soft glow on the trail and in the sky? Soft, soft sketching with the side of the white sharpened charcoal pencil, blend, then lightly sketch on top of that to capture the rough surface of the trail and varied densities of clouds, bits of soft charcoal peeking through.

SHIPPING

Shipping within the US is included in all the prices listed. All shipping is via Priority Mail. Prints are shipped flat in a rigid envelope. Canvases are shipped in a box to fit with padding. Since this original is small it is also shipped in a box with extra padding.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original.

The giclees have 2″ of white around the outside edges. The 5″ x 7″ and 8″ x 10″ digital prints are centered on 8.5″ x 11″ digital cover while the 11″ x 14″ has 1″ around the edges because the digital paper is 12″ wide. All are countersigned by me.

CANVAS PRINTS

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, Canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. I set them up so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or sometimes I slip in a color that coordinates with the painting. This canvas is black on the sides.